Blog

Members of the PPI Student Group and students who receive funding from Penn Wharton PPI for Public Policy Internships regularly write on topics related to economics and public policy. The articles highlight the student perspective on topics at the intersection of economics, business, and public policy. The views expressed on the Student Blog are the author’s opinions and don’t necessarily represent the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative’s strategies, recommendations, or opinions.

According to the NAACP, the United States makes up only 5% of the world’s population but holds 25% of the world’s prison population. Four times more prisoners are incarcerated in the U.S. today than in 1980 due to the War on Drugs. [1]

Imagine a manufacturer of widgets, let’s call them Widget Corporation, which commands a forty percent share of the widget supply market. After assessing the market, Widget Corporation decides to acquire its closest competitor, Widgets-R-Us, which represents thirty-five percent of the market. Post-acquisition, the combined company would have a seventy-five percent share of the widget supply market. An acquisition which results in such a high market-share concentration would likely raise red flags to U.S. government antitrust enforcement agencies, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, as it may substantially lessen competition in the widget market.

The Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, signed on March 28, 2017 by President Trump at EPA headquarters, dramatically changes the U.S. energy sector’s regulatory landscape.

As the United States continues to play its role as a leader of the global community, there is one area in which the nation falls far behind its progressive counterparts: paid sick and family leave. Paid sick and family leave is the idea that working men and women should have the ability to earn paid time away from work to care for a new child, ill family member, or themselves, while protecting against discrimination or retaliation for needing or taking leave.

On March 16th, 2017 White House budget director Mike Mulvaney drew headlines for his press briefing regarding the administration’s budget proposal. His comments on one topic, after school programs that provide meals for low-income students, received significant airplay.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, more commonly known as Dodd-Frank, is a target for repeal among conservative lawmakers hoping to eliminate a signature legislative achievement of the Obama Administration.

President Donald Trump ran his campaign largely on the premise that the United States’ engagement in international trade, diplomacy, and development has weakened its position in international politics.

Border Adjustment – politicians on both sides of the aisle have lobbied the term back and forth, representing it both as a cure to America’s broken tax code and as an “idea so stupid that only an intellectual would believe [it].” [1] With House Republicans promising a comprehensive tax reform package by 2018, it is important to understand the fundamentals of the proposal.

PENN WHARTON PPIRESOURCE SPOTLIGHT:

<h3>Congressional Budget Office</h3><p><img width="180" height="180" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/180/380_cbo-logo.rev.1406822035.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image380 lw_align_right" data-max-w="180" data-max-h="180"/>Since its founding in 1974, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has produced independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.</p><p> The agency is strictly nonpartisan and conducts objective, impartial analysis, which is evident in each of the dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates that its economists and policy analysts produce each year. CBO does not make policy recommendations, and each report and cost estimate discloses the agency’s assumptions and methodologies. <strong>CBO provides budgetary and economic information in a variety of ways and at various points in the legislative process.</strong> Products include baseline budget projections and economic forecasts, analysis of the President’s budget, cost estimates, analysis of federal mandates, working papers, and more.</p><p> Quick link to Products page: <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/about/our-products" target="_blank">http://www.cbo.gov/about/our-products</a></p><p> Quick link to Topics: <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/topics" target="_blank">http://www.cbo.gov/topics</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>National Bureau of Economic Research (Public Use Data Archive)</h3><p><img width="180" height="43" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/43/478_nber.rev.1407530465.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image478 lw_align_right" data-max-w="329" data-max-h="79"/>Founded in 1920, the <strong>National Bureau of Economic Research</strong> is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.</p><p> Quick Link to <strong>Public Use Data Archive</strong>: <a href="http://www.nber.org/data/" target="_blank">http://www.nber.org/data/</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>The Penn World Table</h3><p> The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices for 189 countries/territories for some or all of the years 1950-2010.</p><p><a href="https://pwt.sas.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt71/pwt71_form.php" target="_blank">Quick link.</a> </p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>National Center for Education Statistics</h3><p><strong><img width="400" height="80" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/400/height/80/479_nces.rev.1407787656.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image479 lw_align_right" data-max-w="400" data-max-h="80"/>The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.</strong> NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. NCES has an extensive Statistical Standards Program that consults and advises on methodological and statistical aspects involved in the design, collection, and analysis of data collections in the Center. To learn more about the NCES, <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/about/" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p><p> ﻿Quick link to NCES Data Tools: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/datatools/index.asp?DataToolSectionID=4" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/datatools/index.asp?DataToolSectionID=4</a></p><p> Quick link to Quick Tables and Figures: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/</a></p><p> Quick link to NCES Fast Facts (Note: The primary purpose of the Fast Facts website is to provide users with concise information on a range of educational issues, from early childhood to adult learning.): <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/#</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>